Cheesy Bacon Wrapped Chicken Thighs
These smoked chicken thighs are stuffed with lots of white cheddar and jalapeños, seasoned with Jeff’s original rub and wrapped in bacon to hold it all together.
- Prep Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 6 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 -6 1x
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Hot Smoking
Ingredients
Scale
- 8–12 chicken thighs ((, skinless and boneless))
- Buttermilk brine (((recipe below)))
- Jeff’s original rub (((purchase recipes here)))
- White cheddar ((, cut into 2″ sticks))
- Jalapeños ((, diced (fresh or pickled work great)))
- Bacon ((, thin sliced))
Instructions
- Make buttermilk brine by combining ½ gallon buttermilk with ½ cup coarse kosher salt. Stir for 2 minutes or until dissolved.
- Place chicken into brine-safe lidded container.
- Pour buttermilk brine over chicken to cover.
- Place container with chicken into fridge for 4 hours during brining.
- Rinse chicken well to remove any residual salt and discard brine.
- Lay chicken thighs flat on cutting board.
- Season liberally with Jeff’s original rub.
- Place ½ white cheddar cheese stick and 1 teaspoon of diced jalapeño onto chicken thigh
- Fold chicken thigh over.
- Wrap stretched piece of bacon around chicken thigh to hold it closed.
- Wrap another piece of bacon from end to end to keep the cheese from coming out once it melts.
- Smoke chicken thighs for about 1.5 hours at 250°F using apple or other smoking wood.
- Serve immediately.